Crystalized caramel sauce?!?
in Food & Drink
I just made a caramel sauce using a recipe on the FN-
*2 cups sugar
*1 cup H20
*3/4 cup heavy cream
*vanilla extract
I boiled the H20 w/ the sugar till it turned a medium caramel sauce (was about 325F for me), added the cream and vanilla, and let it cool. I did stir it in the process. When it cooled, it began crystalizing, and now is a mass of crystalized caramel sauce! What went wrong, how can I avoid it in the future, and is there anything I can do at this point to de-crystalize my sauce? If you have a better recipe, please post! Thanks much!
Comments
I think you might be able to save it by melting it again, adding some corn syrup and butter and maybe a little more cream. Just reheat slowly - it crystallized because you probably had some sugar crystals on the side of the pot. Just 1 crystal can cause a chain reaction of crystallization. Next time, make sure you wash down the sides of your pot with a brush/water so there are no undissolved crystals on the sides.
I don't know if it is better but here is mine
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
In a large heavy saucepan, combine the white sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil and heat to between 234 and 240 degrees F (112 to 116 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface.
Stir in the butter and heavy cream carefully - the mixture will bubble up. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Cool slightly before using
Ingredients
* 2 Cups Water
* 4 Cups Sugar
* 2 Tbsp Corn Syrup (optional)
* Pinch Salt
* 2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
* 1/2 Cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, chopped into 1" cubes
Safety
* Adding liquid to sugar that is over 300°F is dangerous! Some of the liquid will immediately flash to super-hot steam. To avoid steam burns, stay back from the pot and pour liquids at arms length. Use an oven mitt for your hand.
* When you add your liquid to the hot sugar, it will boil violently. To avoid messy and dangerous boil-overs, a 2.5 quart heavy bottomed sauce pan or pot is the minimum, but 3-4 quarts is recommended
* Use a heat proof spatula or spoon such as wood or silicone.
Directions
Dissolve the water, sugar and corn syrup over medium high heat until fully dissolved.
Stop stirring and let the solution boil over medium heat. Check on the solution every 5 minutes. You will see the bubbles slow down and get larger. When the bubbles begin to reach 1/2" to 3/4" start monitoring the solution frequently.
When the solution begins to turn amber, get your cream and butter and watch it constantly.
When the solution has turned a shade of caramel that you like (darker is deeper and will start to take on a little bitterness), step back and add the cream at arms length, stirring constantly and scraping the sides of the pan.
Add the butter and stir until incorporated. Pour the sauce into a serving dish for immediate serving with bread, drizzled on ice cream, as a garnish or for use in other desserts.
If you desire, follow standard canning procedures and distribute into canning jars. Allow to cool until the buttons are depressed. Any jars with buttons that are not depressed should be refrigerated and consumed first. To reheat the caramel sauce, microwave the jars (without covers) for 10-30 seconds depending how soft and hot you want it.
Try adding some corn syrup to the water and sugar when you cook it.
i dont know